Boat guide device

ABSTRACT

A boat guiding device for boat trailer, usable in opposed pairs, and comprising a mounting bar and a mounting channel for attaching each device to a respective side of the boat trailer frame. A hollow quadrant member, rigidly secured to the mounting bar and channel of the respective device in which is pivotably carried an angularly adjustable pipe member which threadably carries a horizontally pivotable pipe member, the pipe structure having a vertically adjustable rubber wheel for engaging and guiding a boat during loading or launching and the pipe member including angle clip means for rendering the two pipes stationary during use.

United States Patent Bell 1451 Feb. 25, 1975 [5 BOAT GUIDE DEVICE 3,447,815 6/1969 West 280/144 ,7l7, 2 973 d [761 Invent Larry 2881 33 Avew 1 3788 @1 13 1ii974 Sacramento, Calif. 95824 [22] Filed: Apr. 18, 1973 Primary Examiner-Leo Friaglia 21 Appl. No.: 352,119

[57] ABSTRACT Cl C, A boat device for boat trailer usabIe in op- 280/414, 340/135 posed pairs, and comprising a mounting bar and a [51] Int. Cl B60p 3/10, B6241 33/08 mounting channel for attaching each device to a re- Fleld Search 4. 230/414 spective side of the boat trailer frame. A hollow quad- 193/ C rant member, rigidly secured to the mounting bar and channel of the respective device in which is pivotably [56] References Clted carried an angularly adjustable pipe member which UNITED STATES PATENTS threadably carries a horizontally pivotable pipe mem- 2,s27,304 3/1953 Backus 280/143 the P Structure having a Vertically adjustable 3,021,969 2/1962 Peake et al. 214/84 rubber Wheel for engaging and guiding a boat during 3,056,517 10/1962 Trumbull 214/84 loading or launching and the pipe member including 3,083,986 4/1963 Moody et a1 280/414 angle clip means for rendering the two pipes station- 3,124,259 3/1964 Goettl 214/84 ary during use, 3,178,043 4/1965 Easterwood 214/84 3,204,790 9/1965 Collins 214/84 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures u'iiw BOAT GUIDE DEVICE This invention relates to boat and trailer accessories and more particularly to a boat guide device.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a boat guide device which will be used in pairs, one each being attached to aside of the trailer, the device being able to swing away from the boat when it is launched or loaded by over-head hoist or crane means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a boat guide which will be equipped with a stop light device with bracket means for attachment of a plate, a license plate the stop light portion being pivoted away from the boat when using the launching ramp, and the pair of boat guides will serve to enable the launching and lowering of the boat to be easier.

Another object of this invention is to provide a boat guide of the type described which will keep the tail and stop light portion out of the water so as to prevent corroding and thus cause the bulbs thereof to last longer.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a boat guide of the type described which will have a mounting bar and a mounting channel which will be used in conjunction with each other to mount the quad rant portion having the angularly adjustable pipe member, the pipe member being pivotably secured to the quadrant at its lower extremity, the upper portion carrying a sleeve with wheel bracket means for supporting a rubber wheel with which the sides of the boat are protected.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a boat guide of the type described which will have a horizontally pivotable pipe member which is threaded by nipple means into the angularly adjustable pipe member within the quadrant.

A further object ofthis invention is to provide a guide device of the type described which will have angle clip means, one each being secured fixedly to the pipe members so as to render the pipe members stationary.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a boat guide which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to use and efficient in operation.

These and other objects will become readily evident upon a study of the following specification together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the present invention shown in elevation and partly broken away with a varied position of the upper components shown in phantom lines;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

According to this invention, a boat guide device is shown to include a channel member 11' which is parallel to and spaced apart from an L-shaped mounting bar member 11, the mounting bar 11 and the channel member 11 serving as mounting means for device 10 to a trailer. An L-shaped bracket 12 is secured by means of bolt fasteners 13 and nut fasteners 14 to bar 11, the bolt fasteners 13 being placed into any of the openings 15 of bar 11 desired. The placement of bracket 12 enables device 10 to be mounted to trailers of various sizes. A pair of bolt fasteners 16 (one of which is shown) are used to secure bar 11 to wall 17 which is provided with a plurality of spaced apart pairs of openings 17' through which bolt fasteners 16 may be received, the arrangement being such that the of mounting bar 11 may be placed at any desired elevation. Wall 17 forms one end portion of quadrant 18 which has secured at its opposite side an angularly disposed wall 19, the walls 17 and 19 being secured to the parallel side plates 20 by welding or other suitable means. Quadrant 18 also is provided with a plurality of spaced apart openings through its upper extremity 21 for a purpose which hereinafter will be described. The channel member 11 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart pairs of openings 22 for mounting channel 11 to a particular trailer.

A pipe member 23 angularly adjustable within quadrant 18 is pivotally secured by bolt fastener 24 and nut fastener 25 carried by the lower portion of the side plate 20 quadrant 18, the arrangement enabling the upper portion of pipe 23 to be pivotable within quadrant 18. A loop 26 is welded or otherwise secured to the outer periphery of pipe 23 and is aperturcd to receive a fastener 27, which is also selectively engageable with openings 21 spaced along the upper edge of plate 20 thereby providing a means of locking pipe 23 in any desired position along the quadrant 18 depending within which of the openings 21 the bolt fastener 27 is received. The bolt fastener 27 threadingly receives a nut fastener 28 which thus renders pipe 23 stationary.

A wheel mounting bracket 29 is welded to the outer periphery of a slideable sleeve 30 carried upon pipe 23. A rubber wheel 31 is secured to bracket 29 by means of a bolt fastener 32 receiving a nut fastener 33. The sleeve 30, carrying wheel 31, is secured to pipe 23 by means of a pair of set screws 34 carried threadably within sleeve 30. A threaded nipple 35 is threadably carried within pipe 23 at one end. The upper end of threaded nipple 25 rotatably carries a horizontally rotatable pipe 36. I

A pair of angle clips 37 are one each secured fixedly to the spaced apart ends of pipes 23 and 36 and a wire pin 38 is receivable within openings (not shown) through the angle clips 37, thus rendering the pipes 23 and 36 stationary.

A stop-tail light 39 is carried on the opposite end of pipe 36 and includes a bracket 40 to which a license plate 41 may be secured. The wires 42 to light 39 extends through both' pipe 36, 23 and are carried within channel member 11'.

The wire pin 38 is removed from angle clip 37 when it is desired to rotate the horizontal pipe 36. The pipe 36 is rotatable so as to facilitate easy launching or loading of a boat.

It shall be noted that the guide 10 is used in pairs, one each being secured by means of the mounting bars 11 and the channel members 11', the mounting being secured to the sides of the trailer carrying the boat. The wheel 31 carried upon the sleeve 30 may be elevated to any desired height for engaging the side of the boat by loosening set screws 34 and raising or lowering sleeve 30 after which the set screws 34 are tightened against the periphery of pipe 23, thus rendering wheel 31 stationary while not affecting the rotation thereof.

What I now claim is:

l. A boat guide device for boat trailers, comprising a pair of boat guides, one for each side of a trailer, each said boat guide including a quadrant member, a vertically extending pipe pivotally connected at its lower end to a lower portion of the quadrant, a plurality of apertures spaced along the upper edge of said quadrant, a loop carried by said pipe for selectively angularly securing said pipe along the upper edge by a bolt fastener means engageable with said loop and one of said apertures, a wheel bracket and sleeve carried by said pipeand having rubber wheel means for guiding and protecting the sides of the boat, an L-shaped pipe member having a horizontal pipe portion pivotally carried by said pipe and including stop-light means and a license plate supporting bracket at the free end of said pipe portion; means for mounting said boat guide to the trailer including an L-shaped bar member and a channel member, each said member secured to said quadrant in vertically spaced relation with each other, L- shaped bracket means adjustably carried by said bar member, means on said bar and channel members for adjustably sucuring said quadrant to the boat trailer, nipple means interconnecting said pipe and L-shaped pipe member together and an angle clip means with wire pin means for selectively securing said pipe and pipe member together against relative movement.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said quadrant comprises a bottom wall to which a pair of parallel elongated side walls with arcuate upper along an end wall.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said L-shaped bar member is secured to said end wall of said quadrant by means of bolt fasteners and the lshaped bracket is adjustable upon said L-shaped bar member by means of bolt fasteners engageable within any of a plurality of spaced apart openings spaced along said mounting bar and said channel bar member includes spaced apart openings for selectively receiving mounting bolts at any desired position so as to adapt said device to different size trailers and wiring to said stop light on said horizontally rotatable bar, being carried through said pipes and within said channel member.

4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein said sleeve carrying said rubber wheel which protects the sides of said boat by being in rolling engagement therewith is adjustable in elevation upon said pipe pivotably carried within said quadrant, said sleeve carrying set screws which engage the outer periphery of said pipe so as to render said wheel stationary, said wheel being carried upon a bracket extending from said sleeve by suitable bolt and nut fastener means.

5. The combination according to claim 4, wherein said horizontally pivotable pipe member threadably carries a threaded nipple which is threadingly received within a threaded end of said pipe above said quadrant, and secured fixedly to the spaced apart ends of said pipe and L-shaped pipe member is an angle clip, said clips when aligned with each other, they receive a wire pin through an opening which renders said pipe stationary with respect to each other. 

1. A boat guide device for boat trailers, comprising a pair of boat guides, one for each side of a trailer, each said boat guide including a quadrant member, a vertically extending pipe pivotally connected at its lower end to a lower portion of the quadrant, a plurality of apertures spaced along the upper edge of said quadrant, a loop carried by said pipe for selectively angularly securing said pipe along the upper edge by a bolt fastener means engageable with said loop and one of said apertures, a wheel bracket and sleeve carried by said pipe and having rubber wheel means for guiding and protecting the sides of the boat, an L-shaped pipe member having a horizontal pipe portion pivotally carried by said pipe and including stop-light means and a license plate supporting bracket at the free end of said pipe portion; means for mounting said boat guide to the trailer including an L-shaped bar member and a channel member, each said member secured to said quadrant in vertically spaced relation with each other, L-shaped bracket means adjustably carried by said bar member, means on said bar and channel members for adjustably sucuring said quadrant to the boat trailer, nipple means interconnecting said pipe and L-shaped pipe member together and an angle clip means with wire pin means for selectively securing said pipe and pipe member together against relative movement.
 2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said quadrant comprises a bottom wall to which a pair of parallel elongated side walls with arcuate upper edges and a pair of opposite non-parallel end walls are secured in upstanding relation, the pipe being pivotally secured to the side walls near the bottom wall by bolt and nut fastener means extending transversely therethrough, said loop being securable by a removable bolt fastener receivable in any aligned pair of said openings, said openings being located on each of said side walls, said pipe being selectively positionable at any desired angle within said quadrant between said side walls, said quadrant being secured to said channel along said bottom wall and secured to said L-shaped bar member along an end wall.
 3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said L-shaped bar member is secured to said end wall of said quadrant by means of bolt fasteners and the l-shaped bracket is adjustable upon said L-shaped bar member by means of bolt fasteners engageable within any of a plurality of spaced apart openings spaced along said mounting bar and said channel bar member includes spaced apart openings for selectively receiving mounting bolts at any desired position so as to adapt said device to different size trailers and wiring to said stop light on said horizontally rotatable bar, being carried through said pipes and within said channel member.
 4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein said sleeve carrying said rubber wheel which protects the sides of said boat by being in rolling engagement therewith is adjustable in elevation upon said pipe pivotably carried within said quadrant, said sleeve carrying set screws which engage the outer periphery of said pipe so as to render said wheel stationary, said wheel being carried upon a bracket extending from said sleeve by suitable bolt and nut fastener means.
 5. The combination according to claim 4, wherein said horizontally pivotable pipe member threadably carries a threaded nipple which is threadingly received within a threaded end of said pipe above said quadrant, and secured fixedly to the spaced apart ends of said pipe and L-shaped pipe member is an angle clip, said clips when aligned with each other, they receive a wire pin through an opening which renders said pipe stationary with respect to each other. 